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Doctor of Philosophy in Learning Sciences (Ph.D. in Learning Sciences)
The Doctor of Philosophy in Learning Sciences began enrolling students in the 2022 academic year, aligned with Thammasat University's strategy to build leaders through world-class education and research. The Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education believes that academic and research excellence is the key milestone that positions Thammasat as a genuine home for scholars and practitioners who benefit society. The program's design therefore does not aim to produce graduates with theoretical knowledge alone — it emphasizes developing practitioners who use academic skills to understand social phenomena and propose concrete solutions.
The program recognizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach to education as a way to drive change in human learning. Graduate programs typically focus on producing highly specialized researchers, but siloed knowledge can limit a scholar's ability to solve complex problems in real-world contexts, since it overlooks the interconnected factors and mechanisms that form a network — especially today, when globalization drives rapid, wide-reaching social change. The doctoral program is therefore designed around the idea that understanding human learning requires many disciplines working together, giving students a well-rounded view of human learning through exposure to faculty from diverse fields and areas of expertise.
Students develop knowledge, skills, and experience through coursework related to human learning, learning innovation, research and data analysis, and facilitating learning for change, alongside hands-on experience in real-world research projects to prepare for their dissertation. Students in this program are not merely recipients of knowledge from faculty — they actively participate in the Faculty's research projects together with partner networks in both the public and private sectors, domestically and internationally, making the program a genuine space for sharing knowledge, experience, and growth among all its members.
The program aims to cultivate learners as change agents with four core competencies, known as P.A.C.E.:
PRACTICE: The ability to apply theory to create new knowledge
Students understand concepts and theories from diverse disciplines — sociology, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, biology, and neuroscience — that explain human learning, from internal mental, physical, and behavioral processes to the structure of social relationships. Students can draw on this cross-disciplinary understanding to explain human learning theoretically, leading to practical methods that support human learning.
ANALYZE: The ability to analyze and use data for decision-making
Students can effectively use research methods and tools to consider, interpret, and analyze learning-related data — quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods — and offer well-founded, critical recommendations and questions grounded in academic theory to advance human learning.
CREATE: The ability to create learning innovation
Students can see the connections between human learning processes and the many ways to create innovations that promote learning, and can build and evaluate the potential of learning innovations — such as electronic media, board games, facilitation processes, and exhibitions — to effectively serve people in different contexts.
EMPOWER: The ability to design and lead change
Students can deeply examine the phenomena that affect human learning, recognizing the factors, structures, mechanisms, and beliefs that sustain them, and use this understanding to drive change at both the individual and societal level.
Educator or human-learning specialist
Researcher
Academic
Teacher and administrator in educational institutions
Social entrepreneur
Process facilitator
Learning and educational technologist
Following Thammasat University's regulations on graduate special-program tuition fees.
5 students per academic year.